This invention relates to improvements in paper handling machinery, and, more particularly, to a method of and mechanism for bunching paper articles, such as bags, in an expeditious manner.

The commercial package of paper grocers bags contains bags, or multiples thereof, and is made up of bunches, each containing 50 bags, the bunches being reversed so that the mouths of the bags of one bunch are adjacent the bottoms of the bags of the adjacent bunch.

The machines deliver the bags to a carrier which delivers the ba 5 in bunches of 50. The bags in these unches are uneven and an attendant manual] arranges them into smooth, orderly bunc ies, reverses the bunches, and ties them to form the bundle. On account of this hand operation, the output of the machine is limited to an amount which is below its bag-making capacity. Where the necessity for maximum production has arisen, the. manufacturerhas provided two operatives for each machine. This is poor economy because an operatives wage is more than the fixed charge based on the capital outlay for a second machine and factory space. My invention is primarily directed toward a device by which full production can be economically maintained.

Anobject of the present invention is to provide, a mechanism in which the bunches of bags are formed up automaticall and the bags are so straightened and aligned, that the attendant in making up a package merely grasps two bunches at the same time,

reverses them and ties them; or these operations may be carried out by automatic machinery.

Another object of the invention is to associate with such a mechanism devices for automatically determiningl the number of bags which may be a bone Another object of the invention is to provide a conveyor from the bag-making machine in which the freshly pasted bags are kept for a considerable time and under pressure, so that the pasted seams will set or dry properly.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown, for purposes of illustration, an embodiment in which my invention may take form, but I desire that the drawings shall be considered as illustrating the invention ratherthan limiting the same.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a side elevation of one form of apparatus; and F F1g1. 2 a section along the line 22 of 1g. Pa r bags made in a paper bag machine are ehvered from the b ma mechanism through the rollers 5 and 6 o the machine onto a guide 7, the bags following close to one another but se arated a short distance. The guide 7 lea the bags between suitable mechanism, such as a pair of driven rollers 8. and 9, which deflects the bags onto a short guide 10. A conveyer mechanism A is placed underneath the guide 10 in a position to receive the bags.

The conveyer mechanism includes two flexible units, such as tapes of canvas or the like, which pass about suitable pulleys or idlers so that the bags may be conveyed to the bunching mechanism to be described. One of these flexible units or tapes 11 passes underneath the guide 10, and is adapted to receive the bags. It also passes about several cylinders such as those numbered 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,17, and 18. The other flexible unit 11 passes about the cylinders 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 14, 13 and 12. The direction of motion of these flexible units in the conveyer A is indicated by arrows. The conveyer System is driven by suitable means such as" chains and sprocket wheels which are connected to some art of the bag machine. The speed at WhlCll this conveyer is driven is very much slower than the peripheral speed of the rollers 5 and 6. It is designed so that the conveyer is advanced a short distance, say one-half inch. to an inch as each bag is deposited. The bags therefore pile up on. the belt '11 in the manner illustrated, the bags passing through the conveyer in echelon "bottom foremost. They are squeezed in this conveyer for a considerable time, and in conse uence, the paste is able to set and partially ry.

The delivery end of the conveyer system, that is the portion here illustrated intermediate the cylinders 15 and 23, is preferably arranged to deliver the bags vertically downward so that a number ofbags are suspended in the manner indicated- It thus appears that a number of bags are hanging down from the conveyer system with the bottoms of the bags out of alignment, so that they are presented in a position tobe readily bunching mechanism.

preferably I intercepted and divided by. the? A carrier B, shown at the right-hand end of Fig. 1, is underneath the delivery end of the conveyer A. This carrier includes a flexible belt 24 associated with a sprocket chain 24' which co-operates with four sprocket wheels 25, 26, 27, and 28, carried in a frame 32. One of the sprocket wheels, say the sprocket wheel 26, is mounted on the shaft 27 and driven through earing 28 and 29. The shaft on which t e gear 29 is mounted is connected through gears and shafting (not shown in the drawing) to be .positively driven by the gears which drive the bag making machine proper. This connection is made positive so that the carrier B may have a definite predetermined speed relative to the speed of the bag making machine. The belt 24 is provided with a lurality of thin transverse members 30,-w ich are made slightly shorter and narrower than the bag which is to be made on the machine with which this device is to be associated. The members 30 are fastened to the sprocket chains in any suitable manner so that they are held at right angles to the belt. They are spaced apart a predetermined distance so that the belt will be advanced a distance equal to the spacing of these members for each fifty bags ma e Of course other spacing could be had if desired.

The members 30 andthe carrier mechanism B are so arranged and located that the members 30 are carried past the bags which are suspended from the delivery end of the conveyer A. As the members 30 advance, the upper end thereof will come between two "of the suspended bags, thereby carrying the bags in front of it into a compartment in advance of this particular transverse member, the following bags being deposited in the succeeding compartment. This goes on 'until the next transverse member has been brought into position to divide the stream of bags.

The bags are deposited in the first compartment of the carrier B and arevto be so -aligned that smooth bundles can be made up.

Instead of this alignment being a handoperation (as is common with the standard machines, and which, as above pointed out, limits the output of such machines where only one attendant is used) ','I have provided an automatic mechanism which I will now describe.

A pulley 31, adapted to be. driven from a suitable element in the bag machine, is

'mounted alongside the frame 32, supporting the carrier B. A belt 32' is passed about the pulley 31 and a second pulley 33 carried on a shaft 34 mounted underneath the upper portion of the belt 24. The drive for =this shaft is such that it is rotated at a comparatively high speed. The shaft is provided with a number of arms 35 which are in the bag machine.

.34 is rotated, the belt is given a number of blows to raise it slightly. The outer ends of the arms 35 are bent as indicated in Fig. 2, in order to reduce the wear. The striking of the belt joggles it so that the bags become loosened and may fall to the zbottom of the compartment. This brings them into alignment in one direction.

The shaft 34 is also provided with cams 36, which co-operate with suitable mechanism, such as bell-crank levers 37 and 38, to operate horizontal bars 39 alongside the upright transverse members 30 as shown. The rotation of the shaft 34 will cause the bell cranks 37 and 38 to be brought to the position indicated in Fig. 2 and thereb will {)oggle the sides of the bags in or er to ring them into alignment. The springs 40 and 41 are provided so that the bell cranks follow the cams.

Of course it will be understood that I have illustrated but one of the many forms of devices which can be employed to joggle the bags into alignment. I may use gear-drive instead of the beIt-drive, eccentrics instead of cams, and it is not necessary to locate the arms 35 in alignment as indicated, as they may be distributed in various fashions.

The mechanism which I have now described is one which will receive the maximum output of a paper ba making machine and which will collect t is out-put into bunches of the requisite number, the bags in each bunch being aligned and a large number of bunches being presented to t e operator so that the operator need only grasp a couple of bunches, remove them from the compartments, reverse, and tie them. This is an operation which can be carried on at very high speed, with less effort than tending an unimproved machine operating at half speed.

I claim:

1. The combination with the delivery rolls of a machine for making paper bags, of mechanism driven at a predetermined speed relative to the speed of the bag making machine for dividing the output of the machine into groups of a predetermined number, and mechanism for brin ing the sides and hottoms of the grouped bags into alignment.

2. The combination with the delivery rolls of a machine for making pasted paper bags, of mechanism driven at a predetermined speed relative to the speed of the bag making machine for dividing the output of the machine into separate groups and physically separating the groups from one another, mechanism for conveying the freshly pasted paper bags under compression to the dividing mechanism, and mechanism for bringing into ahgnment.

3. The combination with the delivery rolls of a machine for making pastedpaper bags of mechanism driven at a predetermin speed relative to the s d of the bag making machine for dividing the output of the machine into separate groups of a predetermined number and separating the groups from one another, mechanism or conveying the freshly pasted pa r bags under compression to the divi mg mechanism, and mechanism for brin ing the bottoms of the bags in each of a p alignment.

4. The combination with the delivery rolls of a machine for making pasted paper bags of mechanism driven at a predetermine speed relative to the speed of the bag making machine for dividing the out ut of the machine into groups of a pre etermined number, mechanism for conveying the freshly pasted paper bags under com ression to the dividing mechanism and mec anism for bringing the sides and bottoms of the bags in each group into alignment.

comprising, positivelg driven, slowly moving mechanism for ividing the output of the machine into groups of a predetermined number, mechanism for conveying the freshpasted paper bags under compression to em into alignment.

7. An a pliance for paper bag making machines aving bag delivery mechanism,

comprising, a mechanism provided with a plurality of compartments, means for successively placing the compartments in position to receive a predetermined number of bags from the bag delivery mechanism withtheir folded bottoms at the bottom of the compartment, and means for joggling the bottom of the compartments to bring the bottoms of the bags into alignment.

8. An appliance for paper bag making machines having bag delivery mechanism, comprising, a mechanism provided with a plurality of compartments, means for successively placing the compartments in position to receive a predetermined number of bags from the bag delivery mechanism with their folded bottoms at the bottom of the urality of groups into 'cles such as bags,

the side edges to bring t em mto alignment.

- and means for jogglmg the bottom of the compartments to ring the bottoms of the bags into ali ent.

9. An a pliance for paper bag making machines having bag delivery mechanism, comprising, a continuously moving mechanism provlded with a plurality of compartments, means'for successively placing the compartments in position to receive a redetermined numberrof bags from the ag delivery mechanism with their folded bottoms at the bottom of the compartment, a vibratin device for joggling the bags at the side efges to bring them into alignment, and rotating devices for joggling the bottom of the compartmentsto brmg the bottoms of the bags into alignment.

10. A mechanism for aligning paper articles such as bags, comprising a movin carrier having a horizontal portion adapte to support the lower edge of the articles and having upwardly disposed elements adapted to maintain the articles in a vertical position, and a device for joggling the said horizontal portion of the carrier whereby the articles are loosened so that they are brought into alignment.-

11. A mechanism for aligning paper articles such as bags, comprlsing, it movin carrier having a horizontal portion adapted to support the lower edge of the articles and having upwardly disposed elements adapted to maintain the articles in a vertical position, devices for joggling the articles at the side edges, and a device for joggling the said horizontal portion of the carrier whereby the articles are loosened so that they are brought into alignment.

- 12. A mechanism for aligning paper articles such as bags, comprising, a moving carrier having a horizontal portion ada ted to support the lower edge of the artic es and having upwardly disposed transverse elements adapted to maintain the articles in a vertical position and divide them into groups, and a device for joggling the said horizontal portion of the carrier whereby the articles are loosened so that they are brought into alignment.

13. A mechanism for aligning paper articomprising, a moving carrier having a horizontal portion ada ted to support the lower edge of the artic es and havmg upwardly disposed transverse elements adapted to maintain the articles in a vertical osition and divide them into groups, evices for joggling the articles transversely of the carrier, and a device for joggling the said horizontal portion of the carrier whereb the articles are loosened so that they are rought into alignment.

14. A mechanism for dividing the output of paper bag machines into groups of a pre- 1 p'redetermine interce t the downwardly moving bags.

;zontal portion thereof upwardly extendin 'spaced apart transverse members, each 0 which is carried past the delivery end of the conveyor to intercept the ba p 15. A mechanism for dividing the out ut of paper ba -machines into groups 0 a veyor having a receiving end and a delivery end which is arrang1 to deliver the ba verticall downwar and a continuous y moving helt-like carrier having a predetermined speed relative to the bag making machine and having on a horizontal ortion thereof upwardly extending space apart transverse members, each of which is carried past the delivery end'of the conveyor to 16. mechanism for dividing the output of paper bag machines into groups of a predetermined number, comprising, a conveyor having a receiving end and a delivery end which is arranged to'deliver the bags vertically downwar means for driving the conveyor at a slow speed so that the bags are deposited in echelon and advanced bottom foremost, and a continuously moving carrier having a predetermined speed relative to the bag making machine and having upwardly extending s aced apart transverse members, each of which is carried past the delivery end of the conveyor to intercept the bags.

17 A mechanism for dividing the output of paper bag machines into groups of a predetermined number, comprising, a conveyor having a receiving end and a delivery end which is arranged to deliver the ba vertically downward, means for driving t e connumber, comprising, a conspeed relative to the bag ma ing machine and having upwardly extending spaced apart transverse members, each of which is carried past the delivery end of the conveyor to be inserted between the moving suspended bags.

18. The combination with a conveyor system having two flexible units between which paper articles are adapted to be carried in echelon, the delivery end of the conveyor suspending a number of the articles, and mechanism for depositing the articles on the conveyor system; of a continuously moving carrier having a predetermined speed relative to the deposit mechanism, said carrier having upwardly extending spaced apart transverse members, the upper edges of which are inserted between the moving suspended bags.

19. The combination with a conveyor system having two flexible units between which paper articles are adapted to be carried in echelon, the delivery end of the conveyor suspending a number of the articles, and mechanism for depositing the articles on the conveyor system; of a continuously moving carrier having a predetermined speed relative to the deposit mechanism, said carrier having upwardly extending spaced apart transverse members, the upper edges of which are inserted between the moving suspended bags, and a joggling) mechanism for bringing the paper articles etween twoadjacent transverse members into alignment.